Stock Market

The adoption of renewable energy and climate change in Canada’s Far North is going to be among the study areas for the proposed Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), according to officials from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AAND).

Tom Adams, an independent energy consultant, has been making the rounds to media outlets in Ontario to discuss what he describes as a “fleecing” of electricity consumers in the province. He is, of course, referring to conclusions of a Fraser Institute report, What Goes Up: Ontario’s Soaring Electricity Prices and How to Get Them Down. Adams co-authored the study with Ross McKitrick, an environmental economics professor at the University of Guelph.

Are Ontario electricity ratepayers being fleeced by the addition of wind and solar energy to the provincial power grid? We want to hear from you. Click HERE to continue reading.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) says the federal government needs to think bigger when it comes to helping northern and remote communities kick their diesel habit, or at least reduce their reliance on it. Doing one-off projects believing they will solve both the diesel and economics questions can be “a recipe for disaster,” adds Tim Weis, Alberta director of CanWEA.

It’s less about the cost of solar energy systems and more about ensuring access to capital upfront that will help stimulate greater solar development in northern and remote communities, according to John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA).

The current model of powering and supplying energy to the Far North is no longer feasible, say members of Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow’s (QUEST) Northern Caucus. Trucking in diesel is becoming far more problematic given changes in the weather, they argue.